Mehmed Orhan

Mehmed Orhan
Head of House of Osman
Term	9 December 1983 – 12 March 1994
Predecessor	Ali Vâsib
Successor	Ertuğrul Osman
Born	11 July 1909 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (Now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	12 March 1994 (aged 84) Nice, France
Spouse	Nafiye Yeghen Marguerite Irma Fournier
Issue	Fatma Necla Sultan Mehmed Selim Orhan (adopted)
House	Imperial House of Osman
Father	Prince Mehmed Abdul Kadir
Mother	Mihriban Hanımefendi
Religion	Islam

Mehmed Orhan (Ottoman Turkishمحمد اورخان 1) July 1909 – 5/12 March 1994) was the 42nd head of the Ottoman dynasty from 1983 to 1994. He succeeded as head of the Ottoman dynasty on 9 December 1983, following the death of Ali Vâsib. If reigning, he would have been styled as Sultan Orhan II.

Life

He was born at Serencebey Palace or at Kızıltoprak, Asia Minor, the son of Prince Mehmed Abdul Kadir, Captain of the Ottoman Army, by his second wife Mihriban Hanımefendi whose marriage not recognized by the Imperial House, and grandson of Abdul Hamid II by his fourth wife Bidar Kadınefendi.

Mehmed Orhan worked as a shipbuilder in Brazil, a taxi driver in Beirut and Damascus, a cemetery attendant in USA and an aide to King Zog of Albania. He died in Nice and was buried there.

In a 1990 feature in Life magazine, he said his legacy is "both sacred and laughable," and said, "To be Ottoman is to know how to breathe with time."^[1]

Marriages and issue

Mehmed Orhan first married Nafiye Yeghen (Cairo, 1913 – ?) in January 1933, annulled in 1947. In 1944, he married a young pregnant French American Actress Marguerite Irma Fournier in Paris. He had a daughter by his first wife and a stepson by his second wife:

• Fatma Necla Sultan (born Cairo, 14 September 1933, died 2010 at Zurich) married twice and had two sons.
• Mehmed Selim Orhan (born Paris, 3 October 1943) stepson of a morganatic marriage, had issue, two daughters and one son.

References

1. "Kings in the Wings." Life. March 1990: 45.

• The History Files: The Ottoman Empire
• Oldest Ottoman to come home at last